labor lawAdivision of labor law center

Asbestos is the subject of the latest Tennessee worker safety alert. Many people would consider an asbestos hazard in the workplace a thing from past times, but a recent OSHA alert contradicts this.

The warning in question refers specifically to asbestos in the brakes and clutches of older models of trucks and cars. This presents a hazard to mechanics and others who work in related industries. Most new cars and trucks do not contain asbestos, but mechanics and other workers may be exposed to the hazard when they are asked to work on the older models.

Because of this threat, OSHA recommends that owners of older models of cars and trucks do not carry out repairs or other work on them themselves, but take them to a workshop where professionals are set up to deal with the hazard.

The reason that asbestos presents such a risk to health is that when it is disturbed, it breaks into tiny airborne particles that cannot be seen by the naked eye, but can easily be inhaled into the lungs, causing damage.

As there is no definite way of determining whether a clutch or brake contains asbestos, workers are told to treat every repair job as though it does. There are four main methods of controlling asbestos in the automotive repair shop. They are the low pressure/wet cleaning method, the negative pressure enclosure/HEPA vacuum system and the spray can/solvent measure.

Employers are responsible for instigating safety procedures to be carried out when working with asbestos, and that these procedures should be in writing. They are also responsible for ensuring that all their employees follow the safety procedures.

When you consider that around 10,000 people die from asbestos related diseases in the United States each year, it is important that workers realize the risks involved are very real indeed. Such diseases include asbestosis, lung cancer, mesothelioma and gastrointestinal cancer.

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